LANSING – The Michigan AFL-CIO launched an online petition today opposing legislation sponsored by Congressman Tim Walberg (R-Tipton). Walberg’s bill, H.R. 6094, would delay implementation of the Labor Department’s new overtime rule by six months. The regulation, which is scheduled to take effect in December, will expand overtime pay protections to 100,000 Michigan workers. A vote on Walberg’s bill is expected to take place in the House this week.

“Tim Walberg ought to be ashamed of himself,” said Ron Bieber, President of the Michigan AFL-CIO. “His bill robs working people, plain and simple. Delaying this much-needed new overtime rule means 100,000 working people in Michigan won’t have the chance to earn more pay, or spend more time with their families. That’s just wrong, and that’s why we’re calling on every member of Congress to oppose Walberg’s bill to shortchange American workers.”

For approximately 12.5 million American workers, this new regulation is the most effective way to raise wages, create jobs, and restore the 40-hour work week.

When the new regulation takes effect in December, the salary threshold below which salaried employees are automatically eligible for overtime pay will rise from $23,660 ($455 per week) to $47,476 ($913 per week). This threshold has only been updated once since the 1970s.